Italian shines after wally with brolly
Chief Sports Writer Martin Swain looks at the winning aura of Fabio Capello compared to wally with the brolly Steve McClaren.
Martin Swain looks at the winning aura of Fabio Capello compared to wally with the brolly Steve McClaren.
Ten months ago, England fans did not know which was more cringeworthy - their team's abject performance in losing 3-2 at Wembley to Croatia or Steve McClaren's now infamous "wally with the brolly" posturing on the touchline.
But you get what you pay for and last night the FA collected their first dividend on the £6m a year "signing" of McClaren's successor, Italian master-coach Fabio Capello.
Stick a fez on his head and get him to tell ridiculously-funny jokes and he could be Tommy Cooper.
But while he may have put a smile back on the face of English football, there is nothing of the clown in the 62-year-old from the tiny Italian village of Pieris.
The man with more titles than Prince Charles is a direct descendant of the royal line of coaches who have dominated the game's great stages and last night gave us the perfect cocktail of passion and relaxed composure in out-witting Slaven Bilic from the officers quarters just behind the trenches.
Even Harry Redknapp was impressed by a display which he claims can revive the belief in this fabled "golden generation" of Premier League stars who have yet to deliver.
But these opening two games have been all about the control Capello, a legendary disciplinarian, has exerted over a previously feckless England team too consumed by personal agendas to deliver a collective achievement.
When he very publicly tore a strip off Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole over their meanderings in the previous game against Andorra, Capello was venturing into territory the lightweight McClaren could not dream about.
While McClaren seeks redemption with Dutch mid-rangers Twente Enschede - where the critics are already lining up for a 'pop' after three unimpressive performances - England's fans will be going a little Capello crazy.
We've been there before of course, with Sven but there is something in the aura of Capello which suggests this time its for real.
By Martin Swain
